


UnHeralded

by TheJackdaw



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: A bit of gore, Angst with a Happy Ending, Dorian is a Good Friend, F/M, Implied Iron Bull/Dorian Pavus, Like he's always there, kinda slow burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-03
Updated: 2018-03-17
Packaged: 2018-07-12 00:30:26
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 14,396
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7077052
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheJackdaw/pseuds/TheJackdaw
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Adj. not previously announced, expected, or acclaimed</p><p>With age comes wisdom, so it's unfortunate that the Herald of Andraste is little more than a young adult.</p><p>Evelyn could never have expected that interrupting Corypheus' ritual would cause her life to be thrown into chaos, and the whole of Thedas with it. She never wanted to have such responsibility, and one of her advisors is beginning to agree with her</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hehe, do you get it?
> 
> Like UnHERALDed? Coz she didn't expect it? And she's the herald? 
> 
> Well at least I'm proud of it xD

Evelyn climbed the stairs to the main hall at Skyhold, looking over the reports that a messenger had handed her only a few seconds before. From the brief scan she had given them, more red Templars had appeared in the Western Approach and the Inquisition forces in the area 'needed support', meaning that they were asking for her to take her companions and deal with the problem herself.

Skyhold was short of man power as it was, having only just finished trek across the Frostbacks after the catastrophe at Haven. Tensions were running high, among the soldiers as well as among the Herald and her advisors. She knew that they didn't approve of having someone so young in charge, but none of them could have expected her to have become Andraste's chosen, least of all her. She felt the most hostility from her Commander, Cullen Rutherford.

He was the one who gave her the most disapproving looks and sigh angrily the most during their council meetings. He gave her the impression that he believed he could run the Inquisition far better than she ever could, and even she believed the same. Not that she'd ever tell him that.

It made her blood boil just knowing that she was currently walking towards another one of those infernal meetings at the War Table where she'd do her best to command the Inquisition and Cullen would judge her, no matter what course of action she decided.

Eventually she reached the halls to the War Table room, where Leliana and Josephine were waiting for her. Typical, she thought, that Cullen would be later than her.

"Josephine, Leliana." Evelyn addressed them, and they nodded back at her respectfully.

"Inquisitor." They said in unison, curtseying politely.

"Either of you have any idea where the Commander could be?"

"I'm sorry, Inquisitor, but he is probably on his way. Perhaps he had to deal with some other matter regarding the forces." Leliana tried to reason, but Evelyn had already decided that she was irritated.

"He should not be putting anything above the importance of these meetings." She huffed, crossing her arms and pushing one hip out as he leant on one leg.

"I'm sure he did not mean to cause any offence." Josephine told her, even though she was aware of the tension that existed between the two of them.

"I beg to differ." Evelyn hissed, turning around at the sound of the doors creaking open.

"Ever so sorry for my lateness, ladies, word of the forces we sent to the Hinterlands just arrived. Horsemaster Dennet has been found but is requesting the help of the Inquisition before he is willing to lend us his mounts." He reported, consciously not making eye contact with Evelyn as he took his place on the other side of the table.

As usual, Cullen and Evelyn exchanged disapproving glances before carrying on with their meeting. The meeting itself was rather uneventful. Evelyn decided that she would make her journey to the Hinterlands at first light the next day, and that she wished for Cullen to reserve a small group of men available for if they needed any assistance. Leliana's spies were being sent to Orlais to keep an eye on the Templar activity, and Josephine was set to work on securing routes of trade from Ferelden and Antiva for a continuous supply of weapons and armour.

Cullen waited as patiently as he could for any order she might have given him, although one never seemed to come. He may have hated taking orders from her, but he could never stand idly by when he was available to do something to help. He may have disagreed with her leadership, but he supported the cause of the Inquisition all the same.

"Inquisitor, may I ask what you would have me do?" Cullen rested his hands one on top of the other on the pommel of his sword, shifting his weight from one leg to the other.

"You will do as I ask, Commander." She told him flatly, the tone she used making the other two women shrink back a little in anticipation of the exchange that was about to happen.

"What if you have told me to do nothing? You cannot possibly expect me to do nothing when there is so much to do?"

"I expect you to listen to your Inquisitor and not question her command so harshly."

Without another word, Evelyn swept out of the room with a positively poisonous look in her eyes, striding back to her chambers to cool down, no doubt. Her performance had put the others on edge, especially Cullen who now paced back and forth with a hard frown over his features.

"Commander, it is not becoming of you to drive yourself mad with worry." The ambassador tried to comfort him, but it only led to him turning on her.

"It's not the inactivity I'm worried about." He growled, "She's unable to command the Inquisition properly, she's going to lead us and all of Thedas to our doom."

"We need to have faith in her. I know it's difficult but she-"

"-Is just a child!" Cullen threw his hands up in the air in frustration.

"-didn't choose to become the Herald either." Leliana scolded him, crossing the room with Josephine to leave, "Besides, haven't you got troops to train?"

Cullen rested his hands on the war table, his eyes darting over the markers that they had put there to indicate where their aid had been requested. He slammed the table with his hand out of frustration, causing a few to fall over as he tried to calm his anger.

~~~

"Inquisitor?" Evelyn heard Leliana's lilting voice from behind her door, and she did her best to put a welcoming smile on her face before she responded.

"Come in, Leliana." She called, standing from the desk where she had been sat.

Leliana carefully opened the door and stepped inside, bowing slightly as she closed it behind her. She clasped her hands in front of her as she approached Evelyn, looking down as she did as though she was worried of angering her once more.

"Our ambassador has asked me to tell to that Duke Valmont will be visiting this week. He is coming to thank the Inquisition for security it has offered him and his family. A rather mediocre affair, I'm afraid." She reported.

"Thank you very much Leliana." Evelyn nodded. "Is Cullen feeling better now?"

"I don't know." Leliana sighed, "Is there anything I can do to help the two of you get along?"

"He doesn't believe I can handle this kind of power, that I haven't got enough experience to justify the position I hold." She began, but consciously reined herself in before she got too heated again. "I don't know if we can ever get on like we need to."

"Cullen is very old fashioned in the way he places his faith. He would believe in you more if he saw first hand the kind of things you can do and the sophisticated way that you think."

"He can't see much past the fact that I am barely 19 years old." Leliana could see that Evelyn was truly bothered by the disregard her commander held for her, "What would you suggest? You are my advisor after all."

"Well, I'm not sure. What I do know, however, was the bravery you showed at Haven was certainly noticed." She grinned knowingly, "Not just any 19 year old has the courage to stay behind in a town that is burning to the ground, only to face an arch demon and a darkspawn magister that proclaimed himself a god."

Evelyn stayed in silence at her admission, leading her to think that perhaps Cullen didn't hate her as much as she thought. Leliana knew the affect her words had had, and saw it as a suitable time to leave.

"If you should need anything from any of us, Inquisitor, please feel free to ask. But until then, we shall work on the funeral ceremonies for those we lost at Haven." Leliana bowed and left the room, leaving Evelyn to consider what she had just been told.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Evelyn and Dorian have chat, and she decides to take her problems with Cullen into her own hands. Not in the most conventional way, however.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Most of this is just development of their characters and their relationship. We can't have them being mortal enemies in chapter 1 and best friends in chapter 2 now can we?
> 
> However I just had the best idea of how they become friends, so I'm super pumped to carry this on.

Evelyn finished fastening the buckles on her horses saddle prior to her journey to the Hinterlands, loading her arrows into the bags strapped onto it's side. She heard Dorian approach her, knowing it was him just by the rhythm of the strides that he took. She grinned in anticipation of a witty remark that he was sure to come out with.

"Is this other excursion to let off some steam by running some darkspawn through?"

"Something like that." Evelyn smiled, "Aren't you excited to accompany me?"

"Of course! I do love to watch the process of recovering from an encounter with Sir Fluffy Templar."

"What do you mean?" Evelyn grinned, watching her horse be lead anyway by one of the stable hands.

"First you sit there quietly with this furious look on your face, steam practically coming out of your ears. Then you start muttering little practise arguments to yourself, then you try and justify yourself to me, which of course I always agree with. I'd fear for my life otherwise." He joked, and Evelyn giggled in response having realised how true what he said was.

"Where are the others?"

"At the tavern, just saying bye to everyone and getting their armour on. I'll see you later, good luck."

"Good luck?" She called after him, but he simply gestured behind her with a thumb over his shoulder as he walked away.

Evelyn turned around and her stomach dropped as she saw Cullen standing nearby, giving her a look similar to the look she expected she was giving him. Evelyn knew he was here to choose which of his troops he was sending with them, and even though he didn't want to send his best men, it was his job to do so.

She did her best to ignore his gaze, but found it difficult since she could practically feel his eyes on her back. Soon a stable hand came by her and smiled at her, offering to take her mount around to the gate in preparation for their departure. She stepped back as her horse was lead away, but then realised that in doing that she had no reason to not face Cullen.

She turned to look at him, giving him a sickly sweet smile as he gripped the pommel of his sword tightly, as if trying to diffuse the anger that was building that way. Without even saying anything, they had both decided that neither of them desired a conversation, and their exchange remained at only hostile glances and occasional frustrated sighs.

Eventually Iron Bull, Cole and Dorian were all ready to leave, all sat astride their respective mounts with Evelyn at the front with her brilliant white stallion. She waved goodbye to the few people that congregated around the gates to wave their heroes farewell, and successfully avoided Cullen even though he was standing just to the left of her talking to one of the scouts that was to be sent out with them.

Soon they were trotting down the winding paths towards the Hinterlands, and it didn't take Dorian long to catch up to her to start a conversation.

"Strapping young Templars aren't your thing, then, is that it?" He chuckled, and she turned around to see that he had a smug look on his face.

"Not that." She told him, patting her horse's neck soothingly, though she wouldn't admit it was more to calm her than her mount. "I told you before, he just doesn't think that I'm suitable for the position of power that I've got."

"You have to show him that you're capable." He told her, his features becoming somewhat serious.

"Leliana told me the same thing." Evelyn's gaze fell to the ground, "I don't want to be fighting for the entire time that we are fighting the darkspawn. I just haven't got the energy."

"Well then if we both told you the same thing the point must have some gravity."

"But he's so impossible to talk to!" She said exasperatedly, "He can't go three seconds in a conversation without giving me a disappointed look. I don't think he cares if we're friends or not, he's too caught up in his work."

"You're an influential woman, you could convince him that it is worth it to make up rather than go at it like disgruntled siblings all the time."

"But he's such a stubborn man, never wanting to change the point of view he has about the world and the people in it. I suppose you must get that if you're constantly assessing those around you to see if you can trust them." She found herself surprised that she was even attempting to sympathise with him.

"Can you not find any redeeming qualities about the Commander?"

That was an interesting question. She had asked herself the same thing a couple of times, when she had searched for a solution to their constant squabbling. Even so, the question stunned her to silence for a couple of seconds whilst she recounted the few things that she had thought of.

"I admire him, he's more clever than people give him credit for and it takes a strong man to recover from lyrium addiction in the fashion that he has."

"So you do like him then?" She didn't even need to look at Dorian to tell that he had the biggest grin on his face.

"Of course not. He's insufferable. I can't understand what you see in him yourself." Her tone turned from one of annoyance to playful teasing, "What do you like about him?"

"Oh my blushing buttcheeks, where to begin!" Dorian's expression turned playful, and his sudden excitement made Evelyn laugh, despite the source of his enjoyment. "His hair, his voice, his shyness-"

"Okay that's quite enough." Evelyn laughed, tucked some hair behind her ear that had come loose.

~~

It was dark outside and the cold night air drifted in through the hole in the roof of Cullen's quarters, and he was sat at his desk, patiently working through the pile of reports as he usually did this late in the evening. He found it somewhat relaxing, a good distraction from the headaches he got, less often now since he stopped taking lyrium but they still haunted him all the same. It was also a good excuse to not go to sleep, where night terrors awaited him.

His good mood was changed, however, when he came across a report written in Evelyn's hand and language, making the hairs on the back of his neck raise as he rolled his eyes. Her reports were colloquial at best, and tended to lack the detail that he needed to take a valid course of action.

This one had detail (albeit limited detail) about what the scouts had found in Emprise Du Lion with regard to the Red Templar activity reported there. He took a deep breath to calm himself, hating the thought of having to send even more men away from Skyhold, but alas he was under the command of the Inquisitor.

He knew that she did want to fix the state of Thedas, but it frustrated him that she never listened to him, seemingly uncaring that he had at least 15 years more experience planning and winning battles. And if all those years had told him one thing, it would be that you couldn't possibly hope to win the war if your side couldn't stop their own pointless bickering. It was always at the back of Cullen's mind when he walks to the War Table meetings, knowing that the longer that the two of them fought, the less action they would be taking against the real threat.

Uncharacteristically, Cullen just rolled his eyes and left his desk to get ready to go to bed. He didn't like how he felt for Evelyn, in fact when he had first met her, he had thought her an attractive, bright individual. That is until she started giving orders that were unthought out and unplanned, and got offended when Cullen tried to offer her guidance.

But it was too late to trouble himself with those kinds of thoughts, especially when he had a whole night of nightmares ahead of him.

~~

Cullen was looking over the battlements when Evelyn and her companions returned. However, he was surprised to see her horse riding at the back rather than the front, and even so, she was not riding him. He was being led by Cole, with Iron Bull leading the group. It was then he noticed that they were all covered in blood, even Evelyn's stallion had blood on his quarters. Cullen gaze then jumped to Dorian on his black mare, with someone resting over the front of the saddle. He had one hand on them, and even from the long distance away, Cullen could see that he was using magic.

Now worried, he rushed down the stairs to stand by the gates to see what had happened. They trotted hastily into the courtyard, stable hands coming out quickly to take the mounts from their respective owners, and Iron Bull jumped down quickly to hold Dorian's horse still whilst Dorian jumped down and carefully lifted the person down from his horse's back. Evelyn's mount was led past him quickly to move him out of the way, and Cullen saw a hand print of blood on his neck and quarters, along with a large smear of blood all down his shoulder. Had she fallen off?

Dorian walked past her with Evelyn in his arms, dried blood all over her face, dried into her hair and colouring her armour. Of course, though it wasn't a surprise to him that she had gotten herself into a situation that had almost gotten her killed.

Cole pasted Cullen last of all, walking slowly as he did with his head tipped down. Cullen realised that Cole was probably his best bet at finding out what had happened.

"Cole, what on earth happened to the Inquisitor?" He asked, having caught his shoulder to stop him and turn him around.

"Fire and burning, rushing around, fear and courage all at once." Cole spoke in his usual cryptic words, but Cullen waited patiently for him to explain, "This will show him, I can take care of myself. That's what led her through. It gave her strength. You gave her strength."

Cullen frowned, crossing his arms before Cole started again.

"This was for you just as it was for her. She wants to tell you."

"Evelyn?" Cullen asked, not bothering to ask him to decrypt everything that he had said.

"Yes, she is waiting for you."

He walked away and up the stairs without another word, and when he turned around to see if Cole was there, as usual, he had disappeared. Cullen shook his head and sighed, readying himself for seeing Evelyn after her excursion.

He was almost excited to find out if he was indeed the reason that Evelyn had returned to Skyhold covered in blood.

~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please do tell me if there are any spelling/grammar mistakes. I wrote this on my IPad so it is likely that there are a few.
> 
> Also please do tell me if you think of any interesting tangents you think the story could take or if things you like or things you don't. I love getting your feedback cause as a writer it makes you realise that people are actually reading your work (and hopefully enjoying it!)
> 
> See you next time lovelies X


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cullen finds out what happened, and begins to feel conflicted about how he feels for his Inquisitor.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So it's been almost a month since I updated, and I can't help but feel I neglected you guys a little D: but nevertheless, here's another instalment.
> 
> More conflicted feelings and a bit of a giddy Quizzie.

Cullen climbed the stairs two at a time, avoiding the healers and flustered nobles that stood in the great hall, gossiping about seeing their Inquisitor being rushed through to her quarters carried by Dorian, who left faintly bloodied footprints in his wake. He stopped near the throne as Solas brushed past him, giving him a sideways glance before drifting through the door to Evelyn's quarters. He followed soon after but was stopped by Dorian at the second doorway that led into her bedroom.

"Ah! Thank god you're here!" Dorian grinned, holding his arms out in a gesture as though he was asking for a hug. Not that Cullen planned to give him one.

"I beg your pardon?" He asked, and he could tell by Dorian's amused expression that he looked confused.

"The Inquisitor's been asking for you." He stood aside and held his arm out into the room, telling Cullen that he should enter, "I'd wager she finally has something to say that you'd find interesting."

He frowned, and went to ask what had happened, before Dorian all but pulled him inside. He cast his eyes over to Evelyn, who lay on her bed on her back with Solas sitting beside her and treating her leg. She was still covered in blood, but her trousers had been cut from her so Solas could reach the wound. Cullen looked away from her respectfully once he had noticed. Without even turning around and without letting Cullen ask what had happened, Solas called to him.

"Commander, if I may borrow you for a moment?"

He walked over with his gaze focused on the Inquisitor, whose eyes were still closed, but her breathing was stable. He drew in a sharp breath at the sight of the leg that Solas was holding, when he saw the deep gash that ran from her hip to half way down her thigh, with a particularly deep hole in the middle. Solas' hands were resting either side of it and glowed blue, so Cullen recognised he was trying to pull any infection out and taking away as much pain as possible.

"Could you hold down her shoulders? Quite firmly, if you don't mind. And Cole, hold her legs, that way you could help me help her."

Cullen jumped a little when the spirit appeared in front of him, sitting cross legged at the end of the bed and was soon holding her down by her calves. Cullen then shifted so he could hold her shoulders just beside her collar bones, and Solas rearranged himself too.

"Be ready to keep her still, she can't get any better until I do this." His hands glowed blue once more, but more intensely this time, "I'm sorry, Falon."

She jerked awake violently and screamed as Solas dug his fingers into her leg, and it looked as though he was looking for something. Cullen watched her face with a grimace, her pain making him uncomfortable. Solas then began pulling something from her leg, yet Cullen couldn't tell what it was because there was so much blood. Cullen shouted to Dorian over Evelyn's screams.

"Dorian!" Cullen ordered, and watched the door as the mages head popped out from around the corner, "She can't lose this much blood! Heal her, help Solas, hold her down, get a tourniquet, do  _something_!"

He could see that Dorian was about to respond with something witty, before realising the gravity of the situation and ran over. He quickly put his index and middle fingers of both his hands onto her temples, and she fell asleep immediately once more, leaving the room in silence save for the quick and panicked breaths of the men surrounding the bed. Cullen's eyes widened when he looked over to see what had been extracted from her leg. A dragon's tooth, about 4 inches long by what he could tell, was in Solas' hand, covered in blood with a serrated edge. It was placed on the bedside table before he put his hands back over Evelyn's thigh and used his healing magic again, sealing the wound quickly and cleaning the dried blood from around the area with a cloth and hot water that was also on the table. Cole and Cullen released her.

"She'll definitely have the indents in her bone for the rest of her life, but really she's lucky it largely missed it and went into the flesh." Solas told them, "She might have a limp for a couple of days, but with the right amount of Elfroot, potions and healers magic, she might even recover within the day."

Cole had remained silent the entire time, only now he spoke up.

"She doesn't feel the pain anymore. She will sleep better knowing her debt has been paid."

The three other men exchanged confused glances, but of course none of them knew what he was talking about.

"Thank you, Cole. You have helped her all you can, you may leave now." Solas told him, clearly having learnt previously how to make him leave.

As expected, the next second Cole was gone, and Solas was quick to walk out soon after. Cullen looked between the tooth and her face, shaking his head at her apparent disregard for her own safety. Was she even aware that her death would mean the destruction of all of Thedas? Did she care?

"I know what you're thinking." Dorian said, but Cullen didn't look up to meet his gaze.

"How could you possibly know what I'm thinking?" Cullen spat back, more aggressively than he had intended but Dorian merely chuckled.

"Because she talked about you the entire way to the Hinterlands. About how you don't think she's good enough, how you're too caught up in your work to see how she feels for you."

That caught his attention. He gave Dorian a look that told him to explain himself, but Dorian was nothing if not sneaky.

"Don't look now." He pointed to Evelyn on the bed, who was shifting around as if she was about to wake up.

Cullen didn't want to be the first person she saw, but Dorian was out of the door in a flash, shutting it behind him so that the only sound left in the room was her faint grumbles as she woke up. Cullen stood quickly so he wasn't sat so intimately close to her, and pulled over a stool instead. He tried to make it look like he wasn't interesting in seeing if she was okay, and it seemed he was in luck as she was more interested in looking at her leg. She rolled over to face him and pulled her injured leg towards her, looking over it with a frown. She only seemed to notice he was there afterwards, but was too tired to make any kind of reaction. She just moved her legs over the edge of the bed, looking as though she was about to try to stand.

"Whoa, take it easy!" Cullen said, standing up to steady her when she wobbled.

She ended up falling into him, and smiled at him lazily. Her amusement only increased when she saw the confused look on his face.

"May I ask what has entertained you, Inquisitor?" He frowned at her, and pulled his head back when she reached up to stroke a finger down from his forehead to the top of his nose.

"There's a little crease here from where you frown so much." She giggled, her other arm draped over his shoulder to keep herself up as her legs went relaxed and Cullen held all of her weight. He recognised her giddiness to be a side effect of high dosages of Elfroot, which she was probably treated with on the way home to prevent her feeling much pain.

"You need to get some rest, Inquisitor." He told her, trying to lay her back down again.

However she held onto the fur around his neck, and pulled him down on top of her with a giggle. He had to prevent himself from laughing too, although he did find her behaviour somewhat funny. He had to hold himself over her with his arms on either side of her head, and he found the intimacy of the position rather awkward.

"Can you let go of me please, Inquisitor?" He asked politely, and she gave him a mock upset face and rolled away from him with a pout.

He got off the bed and sat back down on the stool again and shifted it closer to the bed. Dorian's words still ran around his head. He was too caught up in your work to see how she feels for him?

"Would you mind telling me why you thought it was a good idea to try and slaughter a high dragon without any potions or knowledge on how to kill such beasts?" Cullen leaned forward, leaning on his arms that rested on his legs.

She gave him a serious look, but her eyelids were drooping and she blinked slowly as she looked at him.

"You wouldn't let me go if I had said that's what I was going to do." She said quietly, just above a whisper, "I can do more than you think I can."

She rolled over before he could respond, but he was still confused.

"So this was all to show me that I should believe in you?"

He waited for a reply, but soon noticed her breathing had become slower and more regular, indicating that she had fallen asleep again.

He sighed and ran a hand over his face in frustration. What was he going to do with her?

~~~


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cullen and Evelyn learn a bit more about each other. Awkwardness ensues.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Both awkward turtles are conflicted having found out the other isn't as annoying/ *ahem* grumpy commander as they originally thought, so they start to become better friends.
> 
> Wahay for civility.

A few weeks had passed since the Inquisitor had returned to Skyhold in the grasp of death. Yet to everyone's amazement she had managed to pull through, although Cullen was used to her being able to pull off feats out of the reach of any normal person. After all, it wasn't every day one heard of someone emerging from the Fade having spoken to Andraste herself. He saw her now standing on the battlements as she looked over the Frostbacks, occasionally studying her hand when it flared up. She had told him previously it only does so when she is near a fade rift or when she experiences some form of stress. Since there was no way a rift could be within the range of her mark, he could tell something was troubling her.

He chewed his lip as he considered his options. Should he attempt to help her, or leave her to herself? Recently, they had become closer and she had come to him with more personal or trivial matters than she would typically bother him with, like when she worried she had not contacted her family recently enough or when she forgot to check with the soldiers at the camps just outside of Skyhold. It was encouraging to him that she showed such trust for him. Perhaps she was finally able to accept him, and maybe even be amiable towards him.

In the end, his curiosity got the better of him and he walked as casually as he could over to her. He saw her gaze flit to him out of the corner of her eye, but she still faced out into the mountains. She sighed deeply, leaning her forearms onto the wall in front of her and popping a hip out to rest one of her legs. His gaze jumped suddenly to her hand again, startled as it flared particularly violently and she winced as it did. Her opposite hand reached over to squeeze her wrist as if it would help the pain, and Cullen hesitantly stood next to her.

"Does it cause you trouble?" He asked, and cursed himself after he had said it. He knew it was obvious that it did, but she just sighed and looked over at him with a smile.

"Sometimes, but not a lot. When it is a problem I just remember what's at stake." She told him solemnly.

"Very wise, Inquisitor." He remained a couple of paces away from her since he thought she would need space.

“Cullen, can I ask you a favour?” He cocked his head slightly in question, "Please could you call me Evelyn? I want someone that speaks to me as a friend rather than a follower."

"Pardon me, Inquisitor, but is that not what I am?" He said in defence, and she smiled at him.

"Do you know want to be my equal? Leliana and Josephine call me by my name too."

"If it makes things easier, then I'd be happy to acquiesce." 

She looked down at her hand again, flexing her fingers as the mark flared again. 

"What's wrong?" He asked, "You told me before that only happens when something's troubling you."

"Oh, it's nothing." She told him, and he could never read a woman well enough to tell if she was telling the truth.

However, Evelyn knew that and was relieved. She couldn't bare the thought of him knowing that it was him that was causing it. She had thought about him a lot since she had killed the High Dragon, and whether or not he could ever be friends with her without being forced.

"Are you ever going to tell me why you went after that dragon out of the blue?" He tried, but this time, she snapped at him as her mark flared brightly with a crackle.

"Why are you asking so many questions?!" She growled, wincing in pain soon afterwards and rubbing her hand.

He shrunk back in surprise at her outburst, before bowing his head and muttering a rather irritated "Sorry, Inquisitor."

He heard her grumble under her breath, presumably because he had called her by her title again, but he was beginning to wonder why he thought it was a good idea to speak to her.

"I'll take my leave if you don't mind." He said calmly, trying to restrain his irritation.

"Perhaps that'd be best,  _Commander_." She seethed the word, and that was enough to let Cullen know she didn't want to be with him anymore.

He nodded out of courtesy, walking back towards his tower and closing the door behind him. He sighed deeply as he rubbed the back of his neck, a habit he had picked up when he was stressed. His shoulders slouched in fatigue, yet he still knew there was more work to do, and so lit a candle and sat at his desk to tackle more reports before nightfall.

Evelyn cursed herself as she watched his door close, knowing that her attack had been completely unnecessary. She knew he was trying to help, but she couldn't risk him finding out about her thoughts about him. She knew he didn't feel for her like she felt for him, and believed he was only civil towards her now because he too had realised this war would have them working together for the vast majority of the foreseeable future.

 "Well that was an abysmal attempt at flirting, wasn't it?" Evelyn rolled her eyes playfully at the sound of Dorian's voice.

"I wasn't flirting." She turned her body to face him, resting a fist on her hip as it jutted out.

Dorian's eyes cast to her marked hand as it flared up with a resounding crackle  _again_. He smirked at her.

"Turns out that mark can also detect lies. How useful."

She tucked her hands into her pockets with a scowl, "I've told you what I think about him, and I would be pleased if you didn't disclose such information just outside of his quarters."

"Oh, my dear, someone's got to help the poor fool. He's as inept with women as a mabari is with table manners."

"Well as soon as I have a chance, you'll be the first to know."

"The first step is to not lash out at the first man that shows an interest in you." He chuckled.

"Says the man who started his relationship with Bull by continuously throwing insults about each other's race back and forth."

"Bull is the kind of man that loves that kind of thing. Don't even ask me why. Either way, the key is finding a weakness and exploiting it."

"Cullen is not some kind of fortress waiting to be conquered!"

"Fine. Find what he enjoys and do more of it. Sound better?"

She walked towards the stairs behind him that led down into the courtyard and the Herald's Rest, looking over her shoulder as she did

"We'll carry this on in the tavern, you incorrigible man." She chuckled, looking at him over her shoulder as she passed him.

"As you wish, but how could your strapping Templar boyfriend know about your interest if he hasn't even a chance at eavesdropping?"

" _Dorian_!"

Cullen stepped back from the door where he had been listening to their conversation. He was clever enough to notice that Dorian was one of her closest companions and that he would be more likely to get more personal thoughts from her.

It seemed as though he was right.

However, he didn't know what to make of what he had heard. She had spoken to Dorian about him in the past, that much was obvious. Though he was wise enough to know that either meant she liked him, or she hated him. In either situation, he didn't know he should do, if he should do anything at all. It wasn't as though he had the confidence to ask her about such things, nor did he want to find out what she thought of him.

He took his seat back at his desk and his reports once more, although he found it much harder this time to concentrate. He caught himself staring at the door that went towards Solas' rotunda and the main building and thinking about the coming days. They had been planning the siege on Adamant for weeks, and Cullen was certain there was no more planning that could be done, yet his anxiety coupled with his withdrawal symptoms wouldn't allow him to rest. He shifted the stack of reports to one side and opened his desk drawer to pull out the overhead map of the fortress to look over once again.

It was late at night when he had finished rewriting notes he had left weak points in the fortress's defences and was about to retire for the day when he heard a knock at his door. He got up to open the door whilst undoing the buckles on his vambraces. He opened the door but didn't look up straight away, assuming that this late at night it was probably a messenger with a note from a raven, or soldiers that had encountered on their patrols.

"Cullen? Are you busy?" Her soft voice asked him gently.

His gaze flicked to hers quickly, and he felt his cheeks flush in embarrassment when he realised that he hadn't greeted the Inquisitor properly.

"Yes! I mean, no! I'm not busy. Sorry, Evelyn." He spluttered, yet still managed to remember to call her by her first name.

"Do you mind if I come in?" She asked sheepishly, her head moved back towards her shoulders slightly as she retreated from the seemingly awkward question.

"Of course. Is something the matter?" He stood aside so she could walk in and closed the door behind her. He didn't know whether he should carry on taking his armour off, or leave it in it's currently dishevelled state. Thankfully for him, she spoke before he had too long to worry himself about it.

"I just wanted to apologise for the way I spoke to you earlier. It was...unjust." She smiled softly, but still kept her gaze relatively towards the floor.

"That's okay. I understand that being the Inquisitor can be trying at times, I shouldn't have bothered you." He was leant backwards against his desk with his arms and legs crossed.

Evelyn saw that his hair had fallen out of its normal place so that a long curl fell over his forehead, and it gave him a more youthful look. He noticed that she was looking at his hair, and quickly smoothed it back by running his hand through it to return it to his regular style. He looked at her expectantly, waiting to see if she had anything else to say. She took her cue and decided that it was time to stop avoiding addressing the problem that had been bothering her for weeks.

"Cullen, do you like me?" He inhaled so sharply that he choked, which made her laugh shyly. He must have heard her wrong.

"Pardon?" He breathed, still coughing a little to clear his airway.

"Do you like me?" Cullen was sure he was interpreting her wrong.

"We work together every day. We could never achieve anything if we didn't get along." He told her carefully, but she was dissatisfied with his answer.

"I mean do you actually like me? Are we friends?"

"I d-don't know what you..." He stammered as he became more flustered.

"Cullen, it's a yes or no answer." She giggled.

"What do you think?" He asked her, but then realised it had come out more aggressive than he intended in his anxiety. "Sorry, but what's your take on it?"

"I'd like to think we were friends. It makes it easier to go into battle knowing that you're friends are behind you, that's why I take a group of people with me when I go out."

"Having friends in the battle makes things harder," Cullen said sternly once again as his Commander persona took over once again, "At least that's what they told us in Templar training. You spend too much time thinking about their safety rather than your own or the cause you're fighting for."

"You're not making this very easy for me." She said playfully, and Cullen blushed once again.

"Well, if you think so too, then yes, I think we're friends." He rubbed the back of his neck, "I'm sorry. This isn't something I particularly talk about"

She was beginning to run out of ideas to keep him talking and the conversation was beginning to take a turn for the awkward, and the stress was making her hot. She began to fan herself and moved her hair from her face. Only now did he notice how red her face was.

"Is it always this hot in here?"

"It's usually quite cold, considering there's a hole in the roof," He nodded his head upwards to gesture to the gap in the ceiling, where wooden boards were exposed, "I was just...cold...earlier."

She unbuttoned the first button on her blouse, and Cullen's eyes widened again but tried his best to focus his attention on her face. Cullen would never admit it, but he had wondered what she looked like  _outside_ of her work attire. He was a man after all.

"Er, is there anything else that was bothering you?" He asked feebly, his voice not as strong as he would have liked.

"That's okay. Thank you, Cullen." She walked towards the door that led towards the central building. She cast him a look over her shoulder.

"Should you ever have any trouble, know that you can speak to me." She was even brave enough to drop her eye into a wink, "I'm only a couple of steps away."

She slunk out of the door and closed it behind her with a quiet click. He was still stood there stunned as he listened to her boots clicking away along the stones when he realised that his mouth was hanging open. He rubbed the back of his neck again and rolled his shoulders in an attempt to relieve the stress held there. He then climbed his ladder and continued to take his armour and clothes off to get himself ready for bed, and he couldn't shake the memory of the look she gave him.

If he didn't know any better, he would have thought that she was flirting with him.

Evelyn scuttled through Solas' room, where Dorian came skipping down the stairs from his library join her.

"Well wasn't that just splendid." He grinned, and she pushed his shoulder playfully.

"Shut up, I did what you told me to."

"Even the little 'is it hot in here' trick. I'm impressed," He held his hand out to her, "Now, give it back."

She rolled her eyes and pulled the necklace from her pocket to hand it to him.

"Those are quite useful little things. Where did you get it?"

"Back in Orlais. Apparently, you typically use them with a lover, to keep in contact over long distances. But they are ever so useful for eavesdropping on your best friend's conversations with attractive men."

"I'd find it hard to believe the Orlesians haven't used them for such purposes. Everyone knows Orlesians practically live on gossip."

"You're enjoying this too much."

"What can I say. Sometimes, one most live vicariously through his dearest friends for some entertainment."

~~~

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Trying to work up to the promised land (aka smutty goodness hehe)
> 
> It's annoying coz it isn't so much that I don't want to write it, more that I hate the fanfics where the author is too focused on getting to that to focus on the characters and their relationships. So I'm trying to create a proper build up to it.
> 
> Besides, when it does come, it'll be way more satisfying if I do it this way.
> 
> Enjoy and see you later little loves :D xx


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Cullen doesn't give a damn anymore, and frankly, Evelyn supports this decision.

Cullen woke the next morning still plagued by the conflicted feelings Evelyn had arisen in him the previous night. It wasn’t unusual for him to worry excessively about small things, it was something he had done ever since he had learnt to be meticulous with his battle strategy so that total life lost could be minimalised. He sat up in bed and rubbed his face with a hand in an attempt to wake himself up. He could feel now that he needed to shave as his stubble was coming through, and so quickly got up and stumbled over to the mirror and got some water from a cauldron he kept in the corner of his bedroom. Josephine had recently found that mages in Orlais had invented these stones that could heat up when touched for use in heating up water when camping out in the field. He didn't particularly trust magic, but even he would admit that this was useful. He began to shave his face with the razor on his bedside table, dipping it in the water as he went. 

Thankfully Evelyn herself was a rogue and was rather proficient with a bow and a quiver of arrows. He had seen her take down three bandits at once by firing three arrows in one draw, and her combined with her companions were typically an unstoppable force that he had seen bring terror to the eyes of her enemies. As she had already proved, even dragons were no match for her prowess and careful planning. He still believed his skill in strategy was superior and after all, that is why she kept him around despite their constant fighting.

He proceeded to dry his face and comb his hair back in its usual style. Leliana had caught onto the fact that he styles his hair, even though he had adamantly disagreed and tried to convince her otherwise, Josephine had joined in and soon he was reduced to a stuttering mess in his desperation to defend himself. It didn't take him long to pull on one of his typical linen shirts and carefully descend into his office to look out his window to see where the sun was, as a way of judging roughly what time it was. He strapped on the armour he always wore, so much so that some of the straps were wearing out and the leather was stretching. From what he could tell by the light outside a messenger should be arriving soon to tell him there was a War Table meeting.

"Commander!" Someone called him from outside and he grinned proudly to himself.

He opened the door and put his hands on his hips authoritatively, "Report, soldier."

"The Inquisitor wishes me to tell you that there is no War Table meeting today, sir," Cullen frowned in confusion, "As she would wish to meet with you personally in her quarters instead."

"Did she say why?" Cullen said, and it came out more harshly than he intended.

"No, sir. But she asked that you come as soon as you're ready."

“Very good, soldier." Cullen nodded, and the messenger bowed with this fist to his chest before leaving.

Cullen shut his door and checked his appearance in his mirror once again before he left. He couldn't help but wonder what could possibly be so important that she would cancel and war table meeting, only to have him meet her in her  _private quarters_. He guessed it was probably something to do with what had transpired between them in his office yesterday, and he found himself infinitely more curious as to what she could be planning.

Nevertheless, he set off towards the main building through Solas' quarters and main hall. He climbed the stairs towards her room and noticed the door was slightly ajar. He quietly approached and heard her talking to someone, as well as her fast pacing around the room as she did at the war table when debating an important decision. However, he had no idea what could be causing such a behaviour now. He stopped outside and knocked lightly on the door with one of the knuckles of his fingers, and the conversation inside was quickly shushed.

"Cullen? Is that you?" Evelyn called softly, and he poked his head around the door.

He saw that it was Dorian there with her.  _What a surprise_. Dorian had a smug look on his face when Cullen had appeared.

"Yes? You requested that I come here?" He stepped around the door to stand in the doorway.

"I did?" She looked confused and cast her gaze to Dorian.

Dorian was too busy looking up and down Cullen with a twinkle in his eye to notice she was looking at him. Cullen coughed and shrunk back slightly away from his inspection, and looked to Evelyn for help. She was too busy glaring at Dorian with her hands on her hips, and when she saw he wasn't paying her any attention, she snapped her fingers in front of his face.

"Hm?" He turned his head slightly towards her but kept his gaze on Cullen.

Cullen didn't know what he could be finding so interesting but decided it was probably better if he closed the door. He stepped in a little further and shut the door behind him as he heard Evelyn speak again.

"Did you tell him to come here?" She raised one eyebrow in question and irritation.

"You said yourself you didn't have a meeting this morning, so I thought I'd help you fill in the spare time." He finally looked directly at her, a shit-eating grin plastered across his face.

"Would you like me to leave, Inquisitor?" Cullen suggested and reached one hand toward the door handle, but she quickly threw both arms out in front of her to stop him.

"No! No, it's fine." She told him and turned back to Dorian, "You, however, there's a flagon and a certain Iron Bull in the tavern with your name on them."

She giggled at his mock offended expression, yet he walked past Cullen with a confident air about him and his lip curled up to one side.

"Try not to let this end like one of Varric's novels, although I'm sure he would simply  _love_  that."

Without another word, he slipped from the room and closed the door behind him. Cullen rubbed the back of his neck nervously and seemed to be waiting for Evelyn to say something.

"I'm sorry you got dragged up here so early when there was nothing to do, I know you could have used a bit more sleep." She rubbed her arm nervously and shuffled her feet.

"It's no trouble, I wasn't aware the meeting had been cancelled. Do you know why?"

"Everyone's too busy preparing for our siege on Adamant, we haven't the time or manpower to devote our efforts to anything else."

"Oh."

They stood in an awkward silence for a little while before Cullen decided it was the time one of them tried to clear the air between them.

"Do you have feelings for me, Evelyn?" He asked her boldly, before looking down as his face flushed bright red and he fiddled with his fingers anxiously.

"As in,  _feelings?"_  She asked him with a confused frown, yet she had also felt her heart squeeze in anticipation when she had heard his question.

"Would you-" He stopped abruptly before trying again, but said his words more carefully this time, "Have you ever been in a...r-relationship before?"

"I have, with the prissy, dressed up nobles my parents tried to marry me off too." She scoffed at the memory, "They were more dressed up than a nug at one of those shows Leliana is so set on going to after the War has ended."

Cullen chuckled a little himself at what she had said but silenced himself when he saw she wanted to continue speaking.

"But of course, none of them really appealed to me. They weren't nearly as lively and fun as I had dreamed about." She looked straight into his eyes, "Anyway, were you trying to suggest something?"

She knew exactly what he was suggesting to her, but she wanted him to say it first lest she was wrong about him entirely. She wouldn't deny him if he did have the courage to ask her to be in a relationship with him, as she had grown to be quite fond of him in the past weeks. She had spoken to her companions on many occasions about Cullen, and each time she found herself talking about him, the more she realised that he wasn't as awful as she had was regarded him.

Cullen cleared his throat and watched her as she swayed past him towards the balcony that looked over the Frostbacks. The rising sun lit the peaks in a warm red glow that shone brilliantly off of the snow, and she leant her elbows on the stone. He followed her and stood up straight beside her, seemingly much less relaxed than she was.

"I merely wished to discuss what happened between us yesterday." He shifted his gaze across her face as he tried to gauge her reaction, "I'm glad to know I have your support, but I'm afraid that I may have interpreted your intentions wrongly."

He tried to tiptoe around the subject as carefully as he possibly could, but he could tell she was getting frustrated with is constant evasive tactics. She sighed and turned to lean backwards against the stone balcony so that she was facing him. She had come to terms with the fact that Cullen was never going to pick up her hints, besides, she wasn't sure if even she thought it was a good idea. She had  _despised him_  not too long ago, maybe Dorian was wrong and they wouldn't get along and it would just ruin the friendship that they had built and would ensure they hated each other for the rest of their working lives.

"I'm sure you didn't, Commander." He felt defeated when she called him by his title again. That meant she was back to a professional conversation and was no longer interested in talking about their more personal matters, "I won't keep you any longer if that's all."

"I'll take my leave then." He nodded curtly and turned on his heel to let himself out.

She held in her sigh of disappointment. She was certain that he would pick up her body language, that he felt some kind of connection towards her himself. She felt embarrassed that she ever thought such a thing. ' _He's only friends with you because he has to be'_  a voice told her, and she believed it. Why would he possibly be interested in a relationship with her, someone almost 9 years his junior. She knew that he was far better equipped than her to fight in this war, and she thought he sometimes wished that he was the one that commanded the direction the Inquisition took. She shrugged her shoulders as if to confirm to herself that it just wasn't meant to be and that she was foolish for thinking that there was ever a chance.

He cursed himself for being such a weak spined fool. He was  _sure_  she was interested in him if his knowledge from previous relationships had taught him anything. He couldn't stand the thought of leaving her here by herself if that also meant he was abandoning the only chance he would have to be with her. However, at the same time, he couldn't risk being wrong about the signals he had read from her. In that moment, Cullen had a thought that was very uncharacteristic of him.

 _Fuck it_.

Without considering the consequence of his actions, he stopped in the centre of her room and spun around to march back towards her. She was too deep in her own melancholic thoughts to notice until he had grabbed her face with both his hands and pressed his lips gently to her own. She was so caught up in the shock of it that she leant backwards over the balcony, letting out a little squeak in surprise. Cullen was quick to move one hand down to her waist to hold her to him to make sure she wouldn't fall any further away. Once she had realised what was going on, elation set in her mind and she closed her eyes and carefully wrapped her arms around his neck, her fingers playing in the fur of his mantle.

She opened her eyes once she felt him begin to move away from her, and she giggled at the red flush to his cheeks. The fact that he could revert back to the stuttering Chantry boy from the dominant, battle-harden Commander he had just been made her smile and bite her lip giddily.

"I'm sorry, that was, er, really nice." He whispered to her delicately, as if he was worried he might frighten her off. "I thought you didn't like me."

He cursed himself for saying something so stupid when she chuckled at him, her gaze shifting from his golden eyes and his now kiss-swollen lips and back again.

"Do you consider yourself pleasantly corrected?" She grinned.

"Apparently so, Miss Trevelyan."

He pushed her back into the wall as he took her mouth in a kiss once more, his hips pinning her in front of him. For once in his life, Cullen was finally glad he took a risk regarding the Inquisitor.  _His_ Inquisitor.

~~~

 


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With the siege of Adamant so close, Skyhold rushes to prepare for the coming storm. Evelyn and Cullen's romantic relationship evolves a little.

The following days were hectic as those in Skyhold prepared to attack Adamant fortress the next morning, with healers placing orders for as many medicinal herbs as possible, the soldiers refining their fighting and sharpening their weapons and the Inquisitors companions gathering what they needed personally for the battle (whether it be gathering their strength for their magic or getting new armour fitted). But Evelyn couldn't find it in herself to care about any of that, the feeling of a new budding romance still strong in her mind. It was made even more potent by the thought that they had been so aggressive towards one another so recently. She was now in the courtyard with a cup of mead, leaning against the wall of the tavern with her hip sticking out from her cross-legged stance. She was trying to calm down given the risk she was taking with this attack; she and the other advisors knew whilst this would deal a heavy blow on the demon army she would be foolish to think her own forces wouldn't take similar damage.

She increasingly unnerved to find Cullen wasn't out training with the soldiers as he typically was, and she felt some of her previous frustration she had had with him once again, cursing herself for not hiring Rylen to use when the Commander was otherwise occupied. She downed her drink and placed the cup on a barrel next to her, marching towards the stone steps up to the war room and climbing the first few to get a view onto the lower area where the stables were. Once again, Cullen was nowhere to be seen. She couldn't see any glow of a fire in his quarters and so assumed he must either be in the hall eating, in the undercroft speaking to Dagna, or at the war table. Whilst Evelyn didn't understand why he might be at the war table, she also thought that was where he was most likely to be, and so made her way through the throngs of people to get there. She passed Josephine working at her desk and almost giggled at how intensely her brow was furrowed, which was usually indicative of a noble sending a letter that was either unbelievably outrageous, or their hand was almost entirely illegible.

She slowed down once she got to the huge doors that were now slightly ajar, listening for voices. She was stood there silently trying to quieten her breathing to try and hear whispers, and eventually heard the tell-tale sound of metal clinking and boots against the stone floor.

"Commander?" She called softly and heard his walking come to an abrupt stop.

"Inquisitor?" He answered, "Is that you?"

She smiled and opened the door to slip inside, silently closing it behind her. He was stood up straight as she walked in as if he thought he was in trouble, but relaxed a little and smiled as he saw the expression on her face didn't look hostile.

"Is everything okay?" He asked cautiously, leaning back against the table and crossing his arms.

"I'm just concerned about tomorrow, there's so much that can go wrong." She walked over to him and looked over at the war table and the little markers placed across the map, "A lot of lives will be lost, Cullen."

"I've learned to not think about it like that." He soothed her, "Instead think of how many we'll save. This will deal a significant blow to Corypheus and his forces, after this it's just a matter of taking out the other high-ranking officers and then Corypheus himself."

"I've never had to deal with this much before." She breathed, and Cullen tensed up again remembering how her age would give her a disadvantage in the fighting.

"That's why we're here for you, darling." He moved one hand to rest on her shoulder and squeeze it, gesturing with his head once she looked up at him to move over closer to him.

She happily took his offer and almost fell into his arms, curling her head underneath his as he wrapped his arms around her and rubbed one of her arms soothingly with his thumb.

"I know you secretly don't think I can do it." She mumbled and Cullen frowned at her disheartened tone, but when he went to correct her she carried on, "That I'm too young and I shouldn't have been given this much power and responsibility. I won't believe that since now we're closer, all those opinions of me have simply disappeared." 

Cullen sighed and kissed the top of her head before he answered her. 

"I won't lie to you. Yes, I do still think that maybe someone older than you is better suited to this role. However, I've seen how much you've grown and how well you've managed this far. You can fight with the skill and wisdom with someone much older than you, and lead with the same strength. It's something I've always admired about you. I was wrong to compare you to myself when I was your age. Besides, it just makes me want to protect you."

Evelyn giggled and grinned as she stood back to look at him, "So you think I need protecting?" 

Cullen's face flushed bright red and he started to stammer rather embarrassingly in his fluster, making Evelyn bite her tongue to stop herself laughing at him.

“No! Maker, Evelyn, I didn’t want to make it appear as though I thought you were weak, I just want to make sure you don’t fall in battle. So, will you let me at least _try_ and protect you?”

Evelyn found his worry endearing and put both her hands on his chest, looking up at him.

“I know, Cullen, don’t worry. I actually like that you care about me.”

“Of course I do!” He said eagerly, then recoiled a little when he noticed he seemed a little overexcited, “Maker’s breath, I mean-”

“I know!” She laughed, kissing his cheek and stepping back from him to pace around the war table, “What were you doing in here anyway?”

“Nothing necessarily, I just like to feel like I’m doing something constructive rather than just sitting at my desk looking at the floor. It started off as a short walk to get a drink and turned into this.”

“I was afraid you were missing or something, seeing how unusual it is for you not to be out there with the men every minute of the day that isn’t meal times.” Evelyn pointed in the direction of the courtyard with a grin, and Cullen looked to the floor with a chuckle.

“Yes, well, I’ll take that as a message to get back then. Are we convening tonight for a final meeting?”

“I think so, can you come back just before sundown and try and collect Leliana on the way over if it’s convenient. Just a few last checks of our supplies and position and such.”

“Very good, Inquisitor.” He nodded and went to walk past her to leave.

She stuck her arm out in front of him before he left, and he looked at her in confusion. She cast a sultry gaze at him and bit her lip briefly to try and convey what she was after. But of course, she forgot she was dealing with the Commander. He gave her a confused look, but then chuckled in understanding and grabbed her around her waist. She gasped as he swooped down to her level to kiss her, squeezing her hips as she reached up to grab his hair and wrapped a leg around his. He made a quiet groan in enjoyment and bit her lip before pulling back to kiss her forehead and leave the room. Not, of course, without looking back over his shoulder at her first with a smile she could only describe as that of a little boy who had been told to keep a secret.

Evelyn followed soon after him, looking over at Josephine as she passed her, and felt a curl of slight embarrassment in her stomach as she wore the biggest grin on her face, supposedly because she had worked out exactly what had just happened between Cullen and the Inquisitor. She always loved a good bit of gossip. And in Skyhold, no less!

It didn’t take long for word to travel around of the new level of ‘friendship’ between the Inquisitor and her Commander. It was safe to say that was mainly the fault of Dorian, but it hadn’t been helped by the soldiers overhearing the maids talking about it, who then spread it among themselves. Although most people thankfully didn’t believe the rumour, as no one had seen any evidence of any romantic interaction between the two of them, and it common knowledge that they had been at each other’s throats for a while now. They were both pleased that the doubt in the people’s minds had bought them a bit of privacy, but with that doubt came an ever more present need to keep what they _were_ doing even more of a secret.

Following the advisors final meeting, Evelyn sat with Bull and his Chargers in Herald’s Rest, enjoying what she knew was going to be her last calm night for a while. Bull’s roaring laughter did help her relax a little though, as if it helped to convince that in fact nothing was wrong and she was being unreasonably stressed.

“Hey, Boss?” Bull called her and she smiled when she was met with his characteristic grin, “Can I suggest something?”

“Yes? What is it?” She turned herself to face him and she ended up straddling the bench in the process.

“You and Cullen should just ‘give it a go’, ya know? Maker knows he needs the relief.”

“Bull!” She shrieked and threw her tankard at his head and bursting out into giggles when it bounced off one of his horns and slid along the floor.

“So it is true?” His bellowing laughter shook right through her as she held her face in her hands, trying to hide the blush on her face.

“What? No!” She desperately tried to grab at the last chance keeping her secret, but she knew he wasn’t stupid.

“Oh Evelyn, you don’t need to be Ben-Hassrath to see what’s going on between you two.”

“She confessed, yeah?” Sera’s high-pitched cackling echoed out from behind her and she could already feel the dread creeping through her. She’d never leave here in a million years with her dignity intact.

“No, Sera, I confessed to nothing.”

“Argh, how boring! I just came down for a bit of gossip, but you piss lickers greet me with this shite of a story?” She groaned before bursting into giggles again and jumping up onto one of the tables, “Well people, who wants to learn another one of ‘Sera’s lewd songs’?”

Her question was met by a raucous cry from the surrounding drunkards. Evelyn shook her head with a grin, and got up from her stool at the bar and attempted a quiet exit. Not that she believed that Dorian, who had been listening to the whole thing, would allow it.

“Evelyn, wait!” He called after her and she stopped to look over her shoulder at him.

 “Look, I know it sounds ridiculous, but please could you try and remove the stick that has been lodged up his backside? He’s dreadfully handsome, but it wouldn’t kill him to crack a smile every now and then.”

She slapped him on the arm with a giggle before leaving the bar into the dark grounds of Skyhold.

She was on her way back to her quarters when she looked over to where Cullen slept, and saw a warm glow inside, indicating that he was awake. With her mind slightly addled with drink, she decided it was a good idea to pay him a visit. She climbed the steps whilst surveying the courtyard in the dim light, seeing Dennett sweeping up some straw to clean up the stables before he went to bed, and a few birds pecking at whatever had been left on the ground throughout the day.

Once she reached his door she listened briefly in case she was about to interrupt an important meeting, but the relative quiet that she heard told her if he was in there, he was not busy enough to not see her. She knocked and called his name, knowing that he would assume it was something menial if he didn’t know it was her.

“Evelyn? Come in.” She heard him call and she gently opened the door to let herself in.

He was sat at his desk in just linen shirt with a plate of half-eaten bread next to him, telling her he had opted to eat his dinner alone once again to finish some work before tomorrow. He gave her a tired smile with his eyes falling shut in fatigue as he brushed his hair from his face to try and tidy himself up a little.

“Is something the matter?” He cocked his head to one side slightly in concern, making her smile as it reminded her of a confused mabari.

“No, just saw you were awake and wanted to come and speak to you.” She smiled, walking over to his desk and sitting on the surface in front of him, “Are you ready?”

“For Adamant?” He asked, and she nodded, “I’ll be honest, I’m not sure. This is going to be bloody, all I hope is that it’s worth it.”

He cast his eyes up to her from where he had been looking at his feet, “Look after yourself. Don’t do anything rash, please.”

He stood up to look down at her and pleaded her with his gaze, so she gave him a comforting smile and caressed his face with her hand.

“I know you can’t stop worrying about me, but I’m going to have to jump into danger at some point.” She tried to joke to lighten the mood, and she saw him form a little smile as he thought about how silly he was being, “Remember, I’m someone who’s fallen into the Fade and returned. I can handle myself. Besides, what're the chances of that happening twice in a row?”

He chuckled and picked up her hands to rest them around his neck as his own hands fell at her waist.

“Just come back safe, my love.” He leant forward to kiss her, squeezing her hips as he did and rubbing her sides with his thumbs.

When he pulled back he just rested his head on her shoulder, sighing deeply as he shut his eyes. Evelyn and Cullen remained there for a time, enjoying being with each other before the most important battle of both of their lives.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, nearly a year since I updated, there's no excuse for that I'm just lazy or forgot I wrote this xD
> 
> Anyway, enjoy this update :D


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The battle of adamant happens, and Cullen tries to support Evelyn. He opens up about the problems they had in the past

Their forces mustered in the main courtyard of Skyhold, men on horses standing near the gate with the foot soldiers and archers behind them. The Inquisitor could be seen at the front of them all in her full set of armor save for her helmet, atop her sleek black stallion. He stomped and snorted as he heard the metal of his own armor clinking, something he had learned to associate with a battle which made him even more excited. Cullen was stood on the far side of the grounds near the training grounds, looking down at a scroll that had just been handed to him by a passing messenger. He frowned tightly as he read it over, and Evelyn kept catching him looking up at her. She sighed and pet her horse on the neck in an attempt to calm him down, but she found the action soothed her too.

She looked up as she heard a figure approaching her, smiling as she looked up and saw it was Cullen. He gave her a friendly grin, but it quickly fell from his face as he saw the worry behind her features. He stood beside her horse and rested his hand on her leg, rubbing it soothingly with his thumb.

“I’ll be right behind you today,” he reminded her, and she smiled at him, “don’t do anything too much for you to handle. You are our Herald, but you’re not invincible.”

“I know, Cullen.” She reached her hand down from her saddle and held his face, “Don’t worry, I’ll come back.”

“You always do.” He sighed, holding her hand to his face and closing his eyes contentedly.

Cullen turned around to take her helmet from the approaching soldier, handing it to her with a solemn look on his face.

“I’ll come back.” She comforted him, putting on her helmet, “I promise.”.

She drew her sword and held it upwards, her army mustering behind her with a united shout and battle cry. Horses whinnied and stamped their feet and the ground shook under the impact. Cullen took this as his cue to prepare himself too, marching back to where his white horse stood, fully armored. He put his lion’s head helm on and mounted his white horse, unsheathing his sword and holding it up along with the Inquisitor. His men now shouted with renewed enthusiasm, and he smiled in pride at how far his Herald had come, what power she had gathered in such a short space of time. Her companions now rode up beside her, those that were fighting by her side closer than those that were helping those on the ground. Cole, Dorian and Iron Bull were who she typically fought with, and as usual, they flanked her for her personal protection.

She legged her mount on and walked out the gate whilst sheathing her sword, her army following behind her to battle. The husbands and wives of the loved ones leaving for war waved goodbye, some crying in fear they would never see them again, others cheering for them to come home victorious. Cullen himself followed behind her and commanded his men to follow, although he knew it was her spirit that was motivating them to fight, not his.

-  
It was getting dark as they approached the forward campsite the day before the battle. Evelyn had decided it would probably be best if they were to attack first thing in the morning so that they could still have an element of darkness and a chance to sneak up on their enemy and not give them too long to discover they were based a few miles away. She was standing at a table with similar pieces as the war table at Skyhold; alongside her was Knight-Captain Rylen. They were discussing the best way of arranging their troops for the attack. Cullen was pacing the camp to check their numbers and boost morale in those that were new to battle. In particular, he saw a group of younger men, whom he recognized as a group of new recruits that had recently traveled to join the Inquisition from the Free Marches. They had little to no fighting experience, and he had been harsh on them in their training to get them ready in time.

“Is everything okay?” He approached them with one hand rested on the pommel of his sword.

All 3 men stood up quickly to bow in respect to their Commander, but he waved his hand to dismiss them and asked them to sit down. They sat quietly as if in fear of Cullen, until the youngest of the group, a curly-haired boy called Ryan, spoke up for the others.

“We were just talking about what we were to expect tomorrow, Commander.” He said shyly, and Cullen sighed in pity.

These men had never been in the thick of war, and it reminded him of when he first joined the Templars in his adolescence. He rested his foot on an empty seat in front of him and leaned his arms on his knees as he looked around the group.

“It would be kinder to tell you the truth. It’s not as glorified as the songs make it out to be, no one who has been to war truly wants to fight again. But it is our duty to fight for what we believe in because we’ll never get anywhere if all we do is sit around and bark about what we think should happen. That’s for the nobles in Orlais.”

The men laughed with him, relaxing a little to see that he wasn’t as relentless as he was during training all the time. They all suddenly stood up again and knelt in respect, and Cullen turned around to see Evelyn stood there smiling at them all.

“At ease.” She told them, “I just came looked for my Commander.”

“Is something wrong?” He asked.

“Nothing, I’m just walking the camp.”

Ryan spoke up again, “We’re honored to be fighting beside you, Inquisitor.”

Evelyn beamed with pride and nodded in respect.

“I’m proud to have such brave men fighting for me. Corypheus doesn’t have a chance.”

The men smiled at her, and she turned back to Cullen.

“That was quite the little speech you gave there, Commander.”

He flushed red in the face at the realization that she had heard. He rested his hands on the pommel of his sword as he usually did to pretend he wasn’t stressed when he clearly was. Evelyn chuckled a little at the blush on his face.

“I didn’t mean to cause embarrassment, Commander.”

He cleared his throat and looked at his men and the Herald.

“Oh, you didn’t, my lady.” But seemed to be lost for words after that.

The Herald waved away the men, and they quickly jumped to their feet and left.

“It’s good to see they look up to you like that.” Evelyn smiled, “they really admire you.”

“They remind me of myself when I was that age. I only hope that they are ready for war.”

“No one ever is, Cullen.” Evelyn’s face fell, and Cullen stroked her cheek with his hand.

“It’s okay, my lady.” He comforted her, “These men follow you because they believe in our cause; in you. Their sacrifice is their choice to make.”

Evelyn smiled and kissed Cullen on the cheek, hugging him. She affectionately smoothed down the material on his clock and seemed to be trying to avoid his gaze.

“It’s just that sometimes I feel as though you were right before. I am too young to be in this kind of power. I’ll try though.”

Cullen chuckled and tilted her head up to lock eyes with her.

“No, Evelyn. You don’t understand. I only ever said those things to you because I was jealous of the maturity you showed for your age. I always wanted something like you to have when I was younger but was always told that I couldn’t do it, that I didn’t have enough experience and all the sorts of things I told you.”

Evelyn smiled weakly at him, and he could see she still didn’t believe him.

“Look at all the things you’ve done already, you’ve saved towns and cities, people love you and believe in you. Some even think you’re sent from the gods. You don’t even need an orb to do that.”

She chuckled quietly at his joke and nodded at him.

“I’m okay, Cullen, really. I’m just a bit overwhelmed. This means so much to our cause, being victorious would give us such a foothold.”

“And I know you can do it.” Cullen reassured her, “we’re all there behind you.”

Evelyn bowed her head to dismiss herself and walked back to her tent, nodding to soldiers as she passed them, who bowed in respect. Cullen opened his mouth to call after her but thought it best to let her rest until tomorrow. He walked himself back to his own tent, running his hand through his hair how he typically did when he was anxious. He spent the next couple of hours looking at the map and battle plan, sitting in the chair nearby and sighing, resting his head in his hands.

-

Evelyn stood on her horse higher on a hill where she could watch over the battlefield, scanning back and forth as her forces advanced to the walls with the siege equipment and their archers taking out the Grey Wardens at the edge, who were throwing stones down onto the men below. Her horse stamped and snorted as the sounds of swords clattering and men shouting pierced the air, and she drew her sword and pulled the front of her helmet down.

She kicked her horse on with a battle cry, and he followed with her energy as he galloped down the hill towards the front line, leading her alongside groups of darkspawn without wavering so she could strike hard. She swung her sword around, hitting people on both sides as her mount thundered across the battlefield. She was certainly a force to be reckoned with, the sight of her cutting through the enemy renewing the spirit of her men and shaking the grey wardens to the core. She looked like a god of war, effortlessly dominating the battle and protecting her own men whilst helping them advance forwards.

Cullen whipped around as he heard her coming, her shout ringing out across the battlefield as her horse ran back and forth in front of the fort, firing arrows from his back at the forces defending the wall. Cullen commanded his nearby soldiers to help the Herald and moved forward to help smash the doors in. The siege towers advanced and made it to the wall, hundreds of Inquisition soldiers pouring into the fort and cutting through the enemy inside.

The battering ram easily got the fort doors open, and the Inquisitor's companions marched in alongside the other soldiers. Cullen looked around for the Herald herself.

“Where is the Inquisitor?!” Cullen shouted over the noise, and Dorian began charging a ball of plasma in his hands.

He threw his magic into the air, and it sparked into a light and acted as a beacon. Cullen frowned in confusion until he heard the familiar beat of hooves as her black stallion charged through the gate, skidding to a halt and rearing up as Evelyn sheathed her sword and called a solider over to take her horse.

“Take him back to the forward camp! Use him to carry the wounded back if you need!” She told him, and the man nodded before leading her frothing and snorting mount out.

Cullen turned to the Herald who was consulting with her companions and telling them where she meant to go to support the attack, before turning back to Cullen.

“Our men on the walls need assistance, my lady.” He reported, “They’re facing heavy resistance from darkspawn up there, and some of the men think they saw the archdemon again. We have quite the fight ahead of us.”

“Thank you, Commander. We’ll go to the battlements immediately.” Evelyn nodded, unsheathing her sword and gestured to her companions as if to tell them to go ahead of her.

They began climbing a pile of rubble which leads upwards, and Evelyn turned back to Cullen.

“Comman-“

Evelyn squealed as Cullen pulled her towards him by the arm and kissed her, feeling her wriggle against him before going still and kissing him back. He could already tell she was thinking this was neither the time nor place for affection, but he couldn’t pass the opportunity if he may never see her again. He pulled away from her and turned to leave, shouting back to her.

“Stay safe, my lady! We’ll keep up the fight and await your return.”

Cullen saw as the Inquisitor nodded and disappeared to follow her companions. He nodded to her as she ran off; even though she wouldn’t have seen it, it was his way of sending her off with good luck. He hoped and prayed she’d come back.

He ran back out to join the fight out front, cutting through waves of darkspawn and beating back the hordes to keep his men safe. He heard a shout over the din of battle, and he looked up at the battlements. It was Ryan, being held over the edge by his neck as he wriggled and struggled to escape from the pride demon that was holding him. Cullen looked away with a mournful look as the pride demon raised its other arm, bringing it down to dig its claws into him so that his body went limp before he dropped him. He turned around and returned to the fight, only now more worried that Evelyn wouldn’t make it back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost another year since updating. Damn last time I wrote this I was 18 and now I'm 19 at university studying for my degree. Crazy.


End file.
